Tim Ryan Will Entertain Your Conspiracy Theory, Analysis Finds

Democrats

Democratic Ohio Senate candidate has a pattern of being agreeable in campaign interviews

Democratic Ohio Senate candidate Tim Ryan / Wikimedia Commons Joseph Simonson • October 24, 2022 4:59 am

During a 2019 appearance on The Breakfast Club, a liberal talk show hosted by rapper Charlamagne tha God, Democrat Tim Ryan (Ohio) was asked whether he believes in a conspiracy theory regarding collusion between large food corporations and the pharmaceutical industry.

“You think the food industry and the health care industry are working hand in hand?” the rapper asked Ryan, explaining his belief that “certain foods are making people sick and then the health care industry is giving the medicine to treat it.” Another host specifically brought up the “Got Milk?” campaign, although it is unclear what exactly she was getting at.

But Ryan entertained the notions. “Yeah, it’s hard to tell what’s going on behind the scenes,” Ryan said. “What I do know is they’re making a lot of money.”

The response is part of a pattern for Ryan, who has a tendency to agree with whatever is presented to him. The Washington Free Beacon reported last week that Ryan during his first run for Congress in 2002 promised an interviewer that he would open an investigation into whether the federal government created HIV to kill black people, a baseless conspiracy theory that has been used to fuel anti-Semitic and anti-American sentiment around the world.

His tendency to say “yes” to whomever he’s speaking with, however, doesn’t only apply to bizarre conspiracy theories. The desire to agree has led Ryan to adopt far-left positions in interviews on issues ranging from criminal justice to immigration. That’s a problem for Ryan, who is now attempting to portray himself as moderate. A Free Beacon review of Ryan’s 20-year career in Congress found a lawmaker on every side of the issues resulting in an ideologically incoherent record.

Ryan was pressed, for example, during a 2019 interview with the far-left talk show hosts at The Young Turks for being to the right of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.). He responded that he was as liberal as it gets.

“I’ve been on Medicare for All bill since 2007 … before it was cool,” Ryan said. “People say, ‘He’s a corporate guy.’ I’ve voted against every tax cut. … I’m on the Medicare for All bill, right, I’m

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